Path of Sadness
by Lin of Ling Chow
Summary: Blood, sweat, and dry tears is all she was taught. Hard as the people who shaped her, and more deadly than a striking snake. Yet sad....Itachi and the Akutsuki will come in later, there might be romance later I am not entirely sure yet.
1. Chapter 1

Okay people this is my first attempt at a fan fic so I hope you like it. If not that is too bad. If you would like to waist your time flaming then you can go right ahead. Also constructive criticism is a bonus.

Obviously I do not own Naruto or any of the ideas from the show, however Sitka and the plot line are mine so please do not steal them (not that their worth stealing ).

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Sitka was both normal and abnormal. She was considered fairly normal as far as elite shinobi go. To the otherwise lesser ninja, as well as the commoners who did not train for a life of fighting and violence she was far from normal. If she had ever been given a chance to be in the presence of such public they would have viewed her with a mix of suspicion as well as contempt.

As it was Sitka was a part of a secret division of ANBU from the rock village. The way she had become a part of the rock villages ANBU was a story to behold, but a story very few would ever know. As it was known only by the rock village Kage's who's rule she had lived under, also a few of her partners in arms knew bits and pieces of this story. Her sensei knew also.

The first anybody can remember of her story was just before the conclusion of the last great ninja war. Sitka was found by the Riukage himself on a battlefield close to leaf territory. No sound was made by her, in fact she was barely alive when he sensed her wavering life form among the many fallen that lie on the field in a growing sea of their own blood. She had been left for dead even though she still lived.

She was a pitiful figure to be sure. Soaked in blood that belonged to both her and those around her, her now red clothes were ragged and torn, she might have once been dirty her skin colour could hardly be seen now though the red liquid encasing her. Her throat had been cut and she had been left to bleed to death. However the cut was not deep enough to have punctured her main jugular vein. Whoever had done this to the small child was either in an extreme rush or half dead themselves concluded the kage.

The Kage was one of the elite ninja that was cold and unforgiving to opponents, but the child before him was far from his enemy. So he handed the little girl covered in blood to an ANBU medic who cleaned her wound and bandaged it. After the Kage was assured that the small child would live if infection did not set in he was also informed that she would never speak. Because although the cut did not manage to slit her jugular vein it destroyed her vocal cords so that she would never speak. The kage smiled and thought absently that the girl would make a perfect ninja; a ninja that could not speak could not easily give out information.

She was taken back to the rock village and given medical treatment so that she would soon be healthy and ready to be trained. The kage put her under one of his most trusted advisors to be not only looked after but also trained while he was off on the battlefront. As soon as the little girl was given a clean bill of health she was handed over to this old but ruthless ANBU captain and trainer. He was far from a loving parent, he had been a ninja all of his life and did not cut the small girl any slack. The kage wanted her to be something special, he had an idea to create a very specialized faction of ANBU and she was the first to be a part of it.

It was estimated that she was about three years of age when the Riukage found her. Nothing was known about her parentage or her life before the Riukage found her. He of course had his fancies that she was maybe the daughter of a prestigious clan of Konoha. He knew that was highly unlikely but it amused him to think that it was true.

The amusement was found because of the ANBU division he was having her trained in. Its purpose was rather straightforward; it was to have shinobi in its ranks that could fight against the sharingan and the Biakugan. He developed seals to put onto the shinoby that he would raise in this line of fighting so that only the kage of the rock village knew the secrets and could control those trained to fight in this way. Several other children joined the small mute girl training under the old grizzled veteran. The Riukage died in the fight for his dream, "seeing the downfall of Konoha and the rise of the rock village". The little girl was four year old when this happened; her and seven others were being trained for the soul purpose of defeating the "eyes of Konoha". The war ended not to long after the old kage's death.

The next Riukage that came to power was introduced to the secrets of the ANBU branch by the old shinoby training them. He recognised their worth immediately, but he wished to broaden their training focus. He changed them to be an ANBU group dedicated to solely protecting and working for the purposes of the Riukage. They were raised with this mentality drilled into their minds.

Sitka (as she was named by the previous Riukage) was the youngest of the children training. Ven, the oldest was almost five years older than her. Each of the eight children had their own special story and each was both normal and abnormal just like Sitka. They were elite, trained to be the best of the best. If you showed any sign of weakness it was pounded out of you by the lessons of their teacher and Sensei.

Sitka was eight when she was sent on her first assassination mission. It was not some helpless noble; she was to highly trained for something such as that. It happened to be the Kage of the sand village, her and two of her comrades were instructed to sneak in finish him off and get out without alerting anybody to their presence.

The actually managed to succeed much to their Kage's surprise and delight. It was just too easy to disguise three children ages 8, 11, and 13 as ragged orphans wandering in from the heat of the desert. The sand village never even so much as suspected the rock village of treachery. In fact the Riukage was the first to send the sand village condolences for their loss.

After that the Riukage gave the children matching masks. They were black with ferocious, over exaggerated sharp-toothed snarls on them. None of them asked why they weren't given white masks like all other ANBU, none of them had seen enough other ANBU to know that was the way things where.

Not a year after that first successful assassination their Sensei died. There wasn't even a funeral for the unpopular ANBU trainer. But the Riukage dutifully but a headstone with his name and birth as well as death date on it at the head of his grave. Many who visited the graveyard on a regular basis wondered why there where always flowers on his grave, nobody ever saw anybody visit the old mans remains. He had been tough on the children but to some of them he was the only parent they knew, they revered him for his counsel and where greatly saddened by his passing.

Now the only person outside the secret ANBU division that knew about it was the Riukage. He was immensely pleased with this fact and jealously guarded the well-kept secret. He would have added more shinobi to the secret division but he did not know the secret of the seal binding the children to him. Also he no longer had somebody to train any new ragtag orphans. He could find another trainer but that would mean telling somebody else about this great secret. So he kept things as they were he liked it the way it was fairly well.

The children were never allowed to interact with anybody else except when fighting to the death on a mission, and only then with their masks firmly in place. They would hide in trees sometimes and watch kids their own age play in the poor run-down playgrounds that the rock village had to offer. But they could not disobey their kage's orders because of their seals; they could never allow themselves to be seen even by other ANBU. So instead they watched, puzzling over why the children would want to do such silly things like sit on a…swing? Or why some of them cried when they fell down.

Sitka had only cried twice that she could remember, once when her sensei had died and once when her comrade at the age of ten had died before her eyes. She had only been eight back then, it had been the first real death that affected her heart, the first one that she actually felt.

When Sitka turned 10 the Riakage died from a heart attack. She remembered from that day forth that consuming too many soldier pills can be very bad on ones health, and they should only be eaten in moderation.

The third Riukage that Sitka had seen sit in the big chair in the rock village was not much different than the first two. She was quick and cunning but had her own ideals.

She, just like the Kage before her was delighted with the control she had over the children. However her control was not as great as the kage before her, just as his was not as great as the one who created the seals. Because no top-secret information about their ANBU division was written down some information fell through the cracks once again.

She sent them out on outrageous missions meant to increase her own personal gain. It was in this way that she was different than her two predecessors she used their talents and abilities not for the good of the people but for the good of herself. This outraged them all but Sitka especially, the kage couldn't see that, only her comrades who knew her well could see the burning anger under her blank obedient mask.

Sitka began to hold back mission information back from the Kage. At first the details weren't missed, but as she held back more and more info the kage began to notice. It got to the point were Sitka could push the seal so much that she could actually change the facts of her mission reports.

The kage sensed her weakening hold on the growing teenagers. It made her paranoid; deep down it scared her, badly. She began sending them on missions alone, missions that they couldn't possibly complete on their own. They didn't understand what she was doing until two of them had died in this manner. When Sitka finally put the pieces together she was livid, but she managed to restrain this newfound emotion behind her mask once again.

Sitka started working on a jutsue, no it was more of a Kekkei genkai of her own, one that she didn't even know the full implications of. All her hate and anger for the Riukage was thrust into this avenue of training. For the first time in her life Sitka had a goal of her own, one that hadn't been forced on her by the binding seal that twisted up and down her arms. She was going to kill the Riukage.

She was fourteen years old when she finally got the chance. Her kekkei genkai was far from being completed besides having taken to working on it for almost three years. But when the opportunity came she seized it by the throat, in both a literal and figurative sense. By that time there was only three of them left.

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Reviews make me update faster (hint hint).

I already have the next several chapters written so if I get some feedback on how people liked this one I will be quicker to upload the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

It was that bad hu? Well I cant say I blame you people for not reviewing if you hated it, but...was it really that bad? I guess it dosent matter because here I am with another chapter even though I said I wouldn't untill I got enough reviews. I know I am pathetic. But Like a said before I already had them written, so I would rather people read it than let it collect dust in my documents.

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She was breathing heavily when they finally stopped for a break. It was raining hard, the life giving sustenance would not only cover their tracks but it would make traveling difficult for possible pursuers. Ven and Nikia where nearby also trying to catch their breath, they crouched in tree branches shifting so that the tree trunk would shelter them from the biting wind. Nikia was the worst off of all of them considering she had been fleeing from enemy ninja when Ven and Sitka came across her in their hasty exit of rock country. Even through the strong sound of the howling wind and the occasional thunderclap Sitka was able to make out the sound of Nikia opening her medical bag. She had been injured in her flight from grass ninja, it would be the last time one of them would be sent on a mission that couldn't possibly be completed alone.

Unconsciously Sitka rubbed her hands together trying to rid them of the blood that had long since washed away. Her exhausted mind kicked into mission mode and she automatically scanned the surrounding area for possible threats. Even though she found nothing to be worried about she did a second scan, and then a third. If there was one thing that she had learned in her life as a shinobi it was to never take chances if they werent needed. And now with ANBU from her own village on their tail it was not a good time to start making exceptions. Her exaustion was no excuse to relaxe her gaurd, Sitka never relaxed on missions, and now that she didnt have a village she thought she would never relax again.

They were a good nine hours out, for nine hours they had run like there was no tomorrow, and there was a good chance that if the ANBU caught them that there wouldn't be. Not only would their newfound freedom be taken away they would also be dead.

Sitka could feel the lines of the seal where they snaked around her arms, they had changed, it was a small change but one that a shinobi would recognize. They felt dead and lifeless, for once in her life there was nobody controlling her every step and movement, she personally had destroyed the power of the seal. By killing the Riukage she had seized her life back as well as the lives of her remaining comrades. They were free.

They were also very alone; they were the only ones that knew of the others existence. Even the ANBU that where chasing them probably didn't have a clue about who they really were and why they had done what they did. Not a soul knew them, had actually talked to them. Sitka personally liked it that way, she did not know about the others but they way she saw it was simple. If people don't know about you they cant hunt you. You could disappear and nobody would miss you, and that was precisely what they were doing. Nobody in the rock village would ever know who it was that killed the leader of the rock village, except for maybe the new Riukage and even then he wouldn't really know them, just know _**of**_ them.

Sitka listened to the comforting sounds of her comrades shifting slightly in the tree branches above her while she also listening closely for any threatening sounds above the roar of the storm. Pulling her black cloak tight around her she leaned back onto the tree trunk and fell asleep still listening intently. The black mask that was fixed on her face remained alert and snarled at anything that gazed upon it. Her body was still, even among the crashing of the storm and wild blowing of the branches around her.

An hour later she shook herself awake at a slight change in the air around her. The wind was dying down and the thunder had stopped its crashing, soon the cover that the storm had given them would be gone. It was time to move on.

She moved into a crouch on the branch where she had rested. Her comrades above heard it and woke. They too stood and the next second three dark blurbs sped away into the brightening forest as a dawn reached forth to enveloped the land and the thinning clouds. They moved silently, the only sound that could be heard was the patter of raindrops that still fell from the sky.

Where they were going they didn't know, all they knew was that they needed to get there soon, they couldn't run forever. Even the body of a highly trained ANBU will give out at some point, and Sitka didn't want to be out in the open and undefended when that happened.

They had to find a place where people wouldn't think that black clad strangers wandering around was unusual. Where do you find such a place? In a outlaw town or hideout. There were several places that criminals hide, the three x-ANBU where used to hunting down breakers of the law thus they knew just the kind of places to go. First they had to find a big city that was not a capital, then you find the dark side of town and you blend in just fine. The first thing they had to do though was get out of rock country then they could consider what city to flee to. It would be preferable to not delve into grass country considering they had just been chasing Nikia. Sand did not have big cities because of its dry expanse, but then the population of sand was small for its size and it would be easier to hide in a land of such a small population. Then again fire country was almost as big and it would have plenty of hiding spots.

They would have to make a decision soon because they where approaching fire country border. In fact Sitka could sense border guards not too far away, she came to a quick and silent halt. Ven and Nikia came to a standstill also. In an unspoken agreement they turned and where off again heading parallel to the fire country border. They would have to find an unguarded spot on the border but a spot that would still sense a larger group of enemy ANBU crossing in from unfriendly territory. This was what they had been trained for, assassination missions were their speciality and required plenty of sneaking past borders undetected. Even their own border had been a challenge to get across, even more so now that there was no safe haven left in that country. But they had past experiences with all of the borders that contained ninja of any kind so they knew the best way to get past them.

Before crossing the border the three black clad ninja once again came to a complete stop. The country they stopped in was a rocky expanse that grew very little vegetation and contained even less movement. They took shelter under a tall rocky outcropping that offered shelter from the sun as it peaked around the clouds in the sky as well as prying unwelcome eyes. Sitka and Ven removed soldier pills from their bags, the only nourishment they were likely to receive for a long time. Nikia had traveled light in her assassination mission that had sent her fleeing and no longer had any of the sustaining pills. Sitka tossed her several without a second thought. She had been prepared in her flight from Rock country, many special herbs that she needed for her jutsue and such had been packed away into two small compressed pouches hanging from her waist.

They rested for nearly two hours. Trading half hour shifts of keeping a watch while the other two slept as was usual when they went on missions together, this kind of rest would probably be the only kind that they would get. But sleep was sleep no matter how tense and fleeting.

Sitka was on watch when she felt them, they were still a long way off and because of the three x-ANBU's chakra-hidden status she doubted that they had yet noticed them. This small advantage on their side they immediately left their hidden alcove, careful to keep hidden and quiet as they moved off. The ANBU on their tail would probably be just as tired as they were but them being so dreadfully outnumbered they would prefer to avoid a confrontation. After all they had a plan to shake off the Rock ANBU by cutting into fire country close enough that the border guards would sense their entrance.

They succeeded in passing into fire country but it wasn't entirely undetected. A bad thing in the sense that a battle could not be avoided now that their presence was known. A good thing because now their pursuers could not avoid a conflict either, that is if they were still following. If they were not, Sitka and her comrades had merely traded one set of troubles for another.

Because the Konoha nin where fresh and the three x-ANBU where tired and worn out from running, they quickly gained on them. Among the thick trees the fleeing ninja eventually turned and had to face the threat behind them. It was not long before two ANBU and two Jounin stepped out of the leaves. Sitka doubted that they were all that had been at the border base and that some had been left behind to guard against a possible second group crossing into fire country.

The Konoha ninja eyed them carefully. None of them had a forehead protector that could be seen at all, that and the matching black masks and cloaks that they wore were enough to make the other nin very suspicious. Fighting stances where assumed and the Leaf ninja attacked first considering it was them that instigated the fight.

Now Sitka was what you would call paranoid. Because she had been so young when she had been brought into ANBU ranks she had no perception of what life outside of being ANBU was like, it was all she had known. The other two on the other hand had been older at the ages of 8 and 9 when they came into ANBU service. They knew what normal life looked like, and they wanted that life back. Sitka was happy to hide behind the mask that had been given to her so many years ago, it was her face now, while the other two would have been more than happy to take them off and live in a ninja village as Jounin. The only people that had actually seen Sitka's face were her comrades and the three previous Riukage. Anybody else who had seen it was now dead; Sitka made short work of those who knew her identity the Riukage had been no exception. Now these ninja knew about them, the only option was to kill them; those were Sitka's thoughts on the situation.

Sitka being the paranoid shinobi that she was defended their attacks with kunai shurakin, as well as senbon needles. She didn't want to reveal too much of her natural jutsue for fear of not being able to kill all of the shinobi involved in the situation. A Jounin came at her using Tai jutsue, she easily dodged and weaved knowing that the jounin was testing her skill level she decided to hit back before he could analyze her too much. She hit the Jounin in the chakra points in the back of the neck hard enough to end his life. His eyes rolled back into his head and he dropped to the forest floor below. The other three ninja saw the death of their comrade and momentarily pulled back from fighting her comrades.

Both Ven and Nikia looked at her and even though she couldn't see their faces through their masks she could tell by their body language that they were angry with her quick killing. They were asking her why she did that, Sitka told them. With quick precise hand gestures Sitka told them that Rock ninja were quickly approaching from behind them. In seconds she had relayed what it was that they were going to do. Then their moments rest bight was over and the leaf ninja attacked again. Sitka could tell from their posture that they where expecting back up, their increased vigour was enough to attest to that.

All three of the x-rock ninja knew that they hadn't a hope of fighting off leaf nin at the same time as rock ninja, even if leaf nin engaged the rock nin they would still be looking to kill them. As the rock ninja drew closer and Sitka could feel the distant chakra of the expected leaf back up. The moment the rock ninja burst through the trees flinging all manor of sharp objects at the black clad ninja. Three black shapes blurred and were gone.

They headed in three different directions. Sitka barely felt Ven's hidden chakra as he headed deeper into fire country with leaf nin hard on his heals. She felt Nikia as she ran back across the border and attempted to avoid the rock ninja waiting there. Sitka soon lost track of them in the push to get away from the leaf nin coming up fast behind her as she traveled along the inside of fire country border.

They wouldn't be meeting up again, it might take weeks for them to loose or kill the ninja chasing them. They were parting company; they were free now and were no longer in the same ANBU branch. She was now on her own. She felt no sadness, the way she saw it this was just another step of life one caused by actions that she personally as well as the other two had taken.

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I mean come on, was that not worth a review?

Please dont be overly lazy and just drop a line or so about what you did or didnt like. Is that too much to ask?


	3. Chapter 3

Sitka was incredibly brilliant as one must be to be a successful ninja. Her method of fighting was one she had been developing since she was three years old; her sensei had helped and was the only one that really had ever known the full implications of what it was she was doing. Her Sensei had started her off with training her in her two chakra type strengths. Fire, and water, opposites in every way. An unusual thing to begin with.

When Sitka was able to wield these two chakra natures effectively she began to work on a jutsue all her own. Control of water and fire were not enough for her, she wanted complete synchronization with the two elements that were in coordination with her chakra.

She chose glacial water, which seemed to have greater chakra retaining abilities than normal stream water also it was cleaner. She took the ashes from a burned Gen-sue tree which would amp chakra and mesh with the water better than anything else. The carefully picked material made two opposite elements compatible. Each of them she also picked for their easily imprinting qualities, this was the most important.

Next she took her own DNA and stripped it down into its most basic form. She took two different strands of her DNA infused it into the precious material, melding a different strand into each element. She worked with and created a sort of memory in the material its easy imprint ability made this possible. In this memory she, of her experience placed instincts and intuitions that had helped her. As she grew older she placed more and more of the instincts that she acquired into the memory of these two elements.

She had to pick a form for her two elements; it would not do for them to go around, as formless gobs of matter all of the time. She chose the snake; it just seemed to suite the quiet graceful substances that she had formed into a perfectly harmonized weapon.

They existed inside of her body, because they were part of her DNA, smoke and water could exist in harmony in one form. When she pumped chakra into them they could copy her chakra points and create a perfect double, also she could imprint a single goal into their mind and they would follow it using the instincts she had programmed into them. She could place them outside her body and make them assume a form different from her own, thus making an excellent disguise. Always she was improving them.

She could compact and loosen their substance with a flick of her chakra, sending them signals that nobody else could read. The only reason they could was because they had her DNA they could read her meanings.

As far as she could tell there was currently only three ninja on her tail, but that could change quickly because she was still in fire country. She had to get out soon or she would be caught by the fresher ninja that would soon join the ones chasing her. But she had to do it at a point on their border where there were no border patrols.

She was passing a point just like this and abruptly cut quickly toward the border. The fire ninja followed close behind. If she continued to run parallel to the border she would face the same problem she had had inside the border but she wanted to reach lightning. Hopefully just the notion of her direction would stop their pursuit Konoha and the land of lightning always seemed to be at odds. And maybe just maybe they would abandon the chase, it might be enough.

In the meantime they were closing in fast and she needed to do something before they caught up to her. With a simple chakra command the snakes leaked from the soles of her feet and took off in opposite directions. Each of them portraying the same amount of chakra that Sitka herself was. They both bad a single mission imprinted on their mind _'draw the ninja away from host'_.

It worked in part at least. Two of them pealed off to follow the decoys while the third remained on close behind her. As soon as the others were gone he sped up so that he caught up to her in a couple of yards. He had on a bird mask, of what kind Sitka could not identify. His breathing was steady and even while hers was rough and coming in short supply. She wasn't sure she could do this; by his tattoo she could tell that he was an ANBU captain she couldn't take him down alone, not in her present condition. She was tired from fleeing, she was in trouble, especially because her snakes-her prime weapon when fighting-were currently leading this ninja's comrades off on a wild goose chase.

For a second they stood sizing each other up, she tried desperately to think up a strategy of escape or for defeating him. Neither of these prospects looked very bright. Then he settled lower in his fighting stance and she knew her brief rest was over.

Quickly from the belt at her waist she pulled a scroll, she bite her thumb and swiped it across the white paper of the scroll. Two-curved katana appeared in her hands just in time to block his attack with a kunai. He made to punch her in the gut with his free hand but she blocked it with her shin. She pushed away from him and back flipped to land on a tree trunk, she looked up and he was gone. She felt him but was too slow to stop him from clipping her side with his kunai as she jumped to the side. It cut through her cloak and shirt into her skin, but not especially deep. This wasn't a good sign, already she was injured and they had hardly begun. He was fast and fresh, she was too tired to keep up with him.

They danced in a deadly game, if you miss stepped you died. Something was wrong, Sitka sensed it. He wasn't moving in to kill her; he was reading her movements too well. She looked closely at his eyes the next time their blades clashed. She was right. She saw the flash of red that she had been looking for, he possessed the sharingan. He was playing with her, he either had a sick twisted sense of humour and enjoyed watching her squirm or he wanted her alive for some reason. She didn't want to find out what that reason might be, she had to get out of there. If she wasn't such a highly trained shinoby she would have panicked, as it was her training held her in good stead and kept her level headed.

She had to remember her training if she was going to get away from this fight. When she was small she had been trained for the sole purpose of fighting the great kekkie genkai of Konoha. All she had to do was remember.

She loosened her movements and let go of the allusion of control, making her movements spontaneously and without warning. She knew that the sharingan read body language and saw the attacks that a person would make. By becoming free and uncontrolled she hoped to eliminate the hints her body was giving to her opponent.

This technique was not perfect but the change in the fight was immediately obvious to the shinoby eye. This was how she finally managed to land a hit. It set him off balance and surprised him, but Sitka didn't stick around to see his reaction. The second he took his eye off her she was off in a burst of speed hoping to gain at least a little bit of distance before he came after her.

He chased her for almost two miles but Sitka could tell that his heart wasn't in it. He was having second thoughts about following her so far and was tempted to turn back. She pored on more speed in an attempt to encourage him to give up his endeavour. It seemed to work for he fell back even farther and by the time five miles had passed she could tell that he had stopped chasing her. She wondered what else it was that had made him give up; she was still two days journey from lightning country so that couldn't be the reason. Maybe her snakes had done some damage to his comrades, she hoped so. Whatever it was she was exceedingly relieved that he was no longer chasing her.

The sun indicated that it was noon. That didn't mean anything to Sitka, she had already taken food pills that day and did not want to risk an over dose. She ran as hard as her exhausted body would allow, through rocky country that was devoid of any kind of comfort. It was evening before she would allow herself to stop and rest for a while.

She was sleeping very lightly when her snakes finally returned to her. They were depleted sorely of their chakra reserves. She would not have the opportunity to replenish them though until she found a safe haven, and these were her main weapons so this was great cause for worry.

Three hours later Sitka felt that she was sufficiently rested to continue on. The snakes were exhausted so they rested heavy upon her bones. She traveled fast and silent without thought to food and stopping for water only when a stream crossed her path. She was still exhausted and she felt that it was made worse by the food pills she had had the previous day. But that could not be helped, when she was on the run like this she would have to live on the pills until such a time as she could secure a safe resting place and some real food. Right now she was resigning herself to surviving on being tired and hungry for a long time. Out in the big open world if you had no home then there was no place for you to stop and refuel, no place for you to let down your guard. And she was alone with nobody but her snakes to guard her back.

Two days later she had detected no ninja coming up behind her to take up the chase were they had left off. Also it was at the end of two days journey that she came to lightning border. She analyzed it for nearly 24 hours before deciding upon a crossing spot. She did not want a repeat of her last attempt at a border crossing, now she had time on her side so she would take it slow.

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Review please!!!!


	4. Chapter 4

_I am sorry that this chapter is rather short; I will make an honest attempt to lengthen future ones. And I will possibly update sooner because of its length._

_Thanks so much to those who reviewed; so far those who have really enjoy it so I will keep going for them :)._

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In the next couple weeks she traveled through lightning territory, doing her best to remain inconspicuous. She eventually settled in a spot on the ocean across the sea from the land of snow. For some reason she didn't feel so boxed in with the ocean at her back. She found a hide-away in the rocks and trees of the coast where she hunkered down for a few days to rest after she took the standard precautions to make sure that her spot would remain undetected. Then she settled into a sort of waking sleep induced by the herbs she had brought along in the pouches at her waist.

It was a sort of sleep that created extreme chakra reproduction. She fed this chakra to her snakes so that they could function and live as if they were their own entity. She herself didn't sleep until three days of this vast creation of chakra had passed and then she slept hard and deeply leaving her snakes as guards to her seemingly dead body.

Food was rather a pressing need when she awoke because of so many days without it. She would not use anymore of her food pills for anything but anything but an absolute emergency. She had two options, she could forage and dig for roots and other such foods in the forest, or she could find a town and buy the food that she desperately needed. She was torn between the two options. Necessity drove her to find a town yet her anti social tendencies pulled against that need and made her preference the foraging option. Once again her elite training kicked in and she had to do the one that made the most sense despite her own fears. She went and found a town; actually it was more of a city many miles away from her camp to get the supplies that she needed.

She had a small amount of money, enough to buy her food in her present state of need but not much more than that. She had never had to shop for food like this before; usually on missions she just ate soldier pills once a day until she got back to her village. But now she was not going back, now there was nobody at her 'home' with sustenance to fuel her empty stomach.

She waited in the trees in the edge of afore mentioned city, memorizing the lay out and spotting ninja lookout posts and hangouts. The city didn't seem to be too heavily guarded. It was not on the coast so it did not have to look out for an attack coming by ocean and it was not exceptionally close to a border so it did not have to worry too much about foreign attacks. The only reason ninja would really need to be here would be to keep the peace, at least she surmised that was the only reason.

She had difficulty deciding how to go into the town. She couldn't go in wearing the black snarling mask, over her face, as she would have liked. She refused to go without some kind of disguise, and changing her appearance by ordinary ninja means was not a solid enough option for her. In the end she used her snakes as a cover over her, she used the image of a middle-aged man. She hoped that this identity would blend in the best and leave her inconspicuous. To help her blend in even more she took her black cloak and filled it with an assortment of pinecones, moss, grass, leaves, anything that was readily available. This stationed on her back like a pack she hoped to appear to be a farmer coming into town to sell his goods.

A deep calming breath, and then she ventured forth. She had done this before; on several missions she had assumed such a disguise as this. Only before she had had comrades to rely on, and to share the weight of a mission, not this time. Her Sensei had always taught her that solo missions were foolish, there was no such thing as it being better to work alone. His words were "there is a reason we send out and train ninja in teams". She saw the truth in his words and never doubted them. But now there was nobody else she could lean on so she walked on alone.

With her face safely hidden behind her disguise she jumped from the trees and walked down the road that led to the main street. She bent over slightly under her load to make it look like it was heavy, adding more believability to her image.

She walked boldly up to the city, she kept her head down and hidden under the hat she had fashioned her snakes to make also. Nobody turned to look at her passing, her image was normal here. The ninja in the lookout post at the entrance did not even give her a passing glance.

The houses on the edge of the city were farther apart but as she walked farther into the city they were built closer together. Several ragtag street urchins peeked out from the sheltering shadows of the alleys. She took note of them just like she did to all the other people that she passed whether they were ninja or not.

When she found a good draining ditch to dump the contents of her cloak in. She slipped her arms into the empty cloak and started toward the part of town more populated at the current time of day. The market place. With her head still bowed low she walked down the busy streets with one eye looking out for trouble and the other looking for the supplies she needed.

It didn't take too long for her to find what it was that she needed. Firstly she needed herbs for several of her jutsue's, she knew that she did not have the funds for all of the things that she needed. A store by the name of 'Exotic Herbs' had in stock several of the ingredients that she needed. Another ingredient she found at a common street side vender that boasted its exotic plants for healing. She bought rather sparse quantities.

She next stepped up to another street-side vender selling the locally grown fruit, it would be the cheapest. She couldn't eat it until she was alone because of her disguise; she glanced at the fruit rubbing a hand over an apple before slipping it into her bag. Her stomach hurt; soon she was sure it would fall to digesting itself as a way to fill the void.

She did manage to get out of town before she fell on the food like a starving wolf. Only the first few bites were rushed, after the tastes filled her mouth her ninja self control kicked in. She ate slowly, giving her empty stomach time to adjust to the food she was now giving it. Even though she did she still had a sore stomach when she set off for her hide-away.

A couple of days later when she had restored her body to what she considered normal, she finally started to thoroughly consider her new problem. How was she going to get the rest of the herbs she needed? She couldn't find them in any one place unless it was in a ninja herbs store or in a specialized green house, she would not find either of those outside a ninja village. She needed money, and she needed it rather badly. She had used what little she had had to get the supplies she needed the most. But still they would not last long. A couple weeks at the most, she would like to have more because of her status as missing nin. Her chakra super reproduction sleep would only happen with the help of the herbs, she risked running her snakes very low on chakra if she did not get those herbs. She had to come by more money if she was going to solve this dilemma.

For the first time in her fourteen years Sitka needed to find herself a job. Not a normal civilian job, a ninja job. She had to find a bounty book, she was gonna go head hunting.

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_I know this is a really boring chapter but it was kind of necessary to advance the plot and her personality so please bare with me._

_Reviews are greatly appreciated!!!!!_


	5. Chapter 5

Okay people here is the next chapter. A special thanks to babygirl 1998 for continuing to review and encourage me. Thanks so much.

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Finding a bounty book was a slight problem considering she was short on cash. She solved this by exercising the interesting abilities of her snakes. The heavyset ninja with three scares riddling his face never noticed the sudden lightness of his weapons pouch. He probably wouldn't even know that it was missing until much later considering how drunk he was.

She had found another, larger city, the kind that harboured criminals. It was on the coast, a perfect place for pirates, and ninja seeking to blend in with the vagabond crowd to relax with a drink. She had pulled her black snarling mask onto her face when she had entered the rougher side of town, letting her disguise slip out from underneath it. She was looked at strangely for the mask and the black cloak she wore but she was not questioned, the people here knew better than to question black strangers.

Once she had swiped the bounty book she scurried to the top of one of the highest buildings she could find. She guessed its height at somewhere around sixteen stories. There she sat riffling through the pages of the book. She was looking for a suspect that was known to lightning country, that way she wouldn't have to go on a long, time consuming hunt into the other nations before she could get the money for the things she needed.

The bounty book contained nearly any ninja that had made any sort of name for himself. Some were missing nin wanted by their former villages for crimes they had committed and dissertation. Others were nin loyal to their country and village who were wanted dead or alive by those who ran the black market and could pay handsomely for anything they wished. It was one of these that Sitka settled on. A lightning ninja was the target. He was wanted alive and for a price much lower than many of the others. Sitka assumed he had embarrassed a drug lord or some such thing and now he wanted him to pay for it.

Name: Kaitchen

Age: Twenty-five

Rank: Chunin

Other: Wanted alive and healthy returned to rendezvous Copen-Lea to the custody of Rozen' Clen. Price will not be fully paid if subject is in any way harmed.

$$$$: 1000.00 Ryo

There was a picture of the subject above his description. Several subtle hints placed throughout the text told as to where one could find the person in question.

Sitka sighed when she thought of the work involved with tracking this man down. He wasn't worth the effort but she needed the money so she was going after him just the same. There was no way she could track down anybody worth more (meaning stronger) under the current circumstances.

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She had been right; the scrawny chunin hadn't put up anything that she could have called a fight. His puny efforts would have made even the 'honourable' leaf ninja laugh.

Even if incapacitating turned out to be a simple thing it proved to be quite another to drop him off and collect her money. Making contact with the elusive afor supposed drug Lord was a different matter entirely. Eventually she did manage to contact him and arrange to meet him at a place more suited to her current location farther into lightning country. The returned message showed his obvious distaste at catering to another's wishes but still he grudgingly agreed to meet her in an unfrequented forest grove.

After three days of watching her captive she was glad she was finally going to get ride of him. The following night all she had to do was show up with the package alive and unharmed and collect her money, by force if necessary.

She was there long before midnight-their agreed upon time-mostly out of habit. It was second nature to make sure she was the one with the traps in the trees not them. For most of an hour she sat in the darkness merely monitoring the area around her for even the slightest gust of wind. She felt a twitch of satisfaction when she felt the presence of a ninja. It was still an hour before the planned meeting. It seemed that the Lord liked having the upper hand as well and had sent one of his cronies to make sure he had it. Only to bad for him because she got here first.

With her chakra thoroughly disguised she swung up into the branches behind him and before he noticed her she hit a nerve point at the base of his skull. He fell to the ground like a lead weight. She lugged him a ways away to where her suppressed target also lay waiting for the exchange. She smuggled the beacon that was his chakra by forcing her water snake inside his body. Because it was not a part of his DNA it did not slip in effortlessly. A lot more than just his head was going to hurt when he woke up.

Twelve o'clock arrived just as those she had been waiting for did. She had never seen the Lord before so she could not be sure if he was on of the five-cloaked figures that appeared. She had her chakra concealed as she watched them from the shadows. One of them produced a light and shined it around the little clearing; she avoided its glow and remained hidden.

"We know your out there" proclaimed the one with the light. "This is not a game of hide and seek". To him it must have been a direct command to come out. She was slightly amused but did not wish to drag the meeting out any longer than necessary.

She dropped down behind them and enjoyed watching them whip around, startled. She was dressed in her black cloak and mask so she was merely a shadow in the dark. The white of the snarl on her mask however they could see and it seemed to put them ill at ease.

"Vell Vhere is he" Demanded one with a nasal voice and an accent. She was annoyed with his lack of patience, and was getting miffed by the demands they were issuing.

None the less she retrieved the package and dumped his limp body before him. One of the men bent next to him to give a brief medical check up and make sure that the man was in fact unharmed. He nodded back to the men behind him to confirm that he was.

The man who appeared to be in charge motioned for two of the others to step foreward and take the body. Sitka wasn't going to allow that and put her foot down on top of the body to prevent such actions. She held out an empty hand to show that she wanted her money before they took the man not after. The headman nodded again one of the others stepped foreward and placed the expected money in her hand.

They were in the process of shouldering the limp form when she signalled her snake to bring the other ninja. The snake ungracefully took hold of the man's nervous system and jerkingly directed him toward her location. When it finally stumbled into the clearing they were just leaving. They turned to find out what was making the racket in the bush and were met with an unwelcome sight. Sitka was sure if she could have seen their faces under the hoods they wore they would have all worn expressions of shock. And when Sitka extracted the essence of the snake from the now twitching form their eyeballs must have almost rolled out of their heads.

Once again she put her foot down on the body and held out an empty palm. This inconvenience was going to cost them.

A minute or two of conferring among themselves and they eventually did pay up. They payed almost the same that they had for the one the already had in their custody.

Then Sitka was gone. She had got what she came for, now she was a little more secure in her standing on the outside world. She felt a rare and small satisfaction at being able to take care of herself in the wide world. Not all ninja could do that; some couldn't go on without the support of their village now she knew that she could.

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_I know this is yet another short chapter but sometimes there are just spots that you have to stop. It just so happens that I had to stop short:) sorry._

_Reviews are awesome things people so please contribute to the awesomeness and review for me._


	6. Chapter 6

Another chapter YAY!!!! Itachi finally comes into the story!!!

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Her life began to form a sort of constant. She continued to hang around the bad side of towns she came across knowing she could blend in there.

Only once did it occur to her that she could fit in better in a more 'normal' setting if she used her original appearance. But she immediately dismissed that idea. Of anything else that she could think of the thought of revealing her face to the general public scared her the most. So instead she remained where she felt the most comfortable, with the criminals, and the thieves. It was odd considering a majority of them were middle aged men and she was a fourteen year old girl.

Once she felt more secure in her position she started taking on stronger wanted ninja. Mostly she dealt with drug Lords considering they were the only ones in the assassination business besides the villages and she did not even want to get close to one of those.

Soon she found pictures of her mask appearing on wanted posters with all the rest. Not only was the rock village searching for her now the land of lighting was too. But her mask wasn't the only one there; there was another that had a different shape a slightly different snarl, it was wanted by the village hidden in the grass as well as the village hidden in the rocks. Nikkia.

It wasn't until Sitka came up against to black and red-clouded cloaks that she realized how much unwanted attention she had attracted.

There were three of them, she knew of their organization and recognized that she was very outmatched. Running from them sounded repulsive to her because it would leave her back open and she did not know how these ninja fought.

However as she sensed them approaching through the trees at a leisurely pace she noticed something. She leaned back on the branch she was sitting on resting her back against the trunk. She closed her eyes to concentrate. One of the approaching chakra where familiar. It was Nikkia; she was one of the cloaked figures that her snakes had reported to her. One of the other chakra seemed vaguely familiar, like she had fought the person before.

She was still in this loose relaxed pose trying to figure out whom the chakra belonged to when the cloaked figures entered the clearing she rested by. When they stopped she had finally figured out whom the chakra belonged to. It belonged to that Uchiha she had fought when fleeing the rock ninja coming into fire country. That was very interesting considering she happened to know that Uchiha had become very rare as of late. They had been slaughtered by one of their own, Itachi Uchiha. He was also one of the ninja standing not to far away with their eyes fixed on her apparently relaxed form.

The last chakra was a mystery to her; she had no recollection of having fought it before. She would have to be most wary of this one for she had no clue of his style of fighting or any such thing.

Many minutes passed. The normal sounds of the forest were all that could be heard. Sitka would not make the first move, and talking was out of the question for she couldn't. She could sign but Nikkia would be the only one that would understand that. But Nikkia was with them, so this time they were on different sides of the battlefield; they were enemies in this battle.

"Sshe has patientsss" said the unknown ninja with a slight hiss. She concentrated on the voice, trying to glean some hint as to who he was. He had to be a well-known criminal to be a part of the Akatsuki.

"You are invited to join our organization" Spoke the Uchiha in a deadly calm voice. At the sound of his voice Sitka opened her eyes and began to study the three of them through her mask. Nikkia, the Uchiha then the unknown ninja. They were largely non-descript and aside from their cloaks and hats hardly anything could be seen of them.

She sat up and her hands twitched. She knew they had all seen the small movement but only Nikkia was able to interpret it, she shook her head in answer.

A small conversation started, both Nikkia and Sitka were signing.

_Decline_? Sitka asked (aka "and if I decline")

_Cant_. Replied Nikkia (aka "there is no option")

_Running_?

_Caught_.

_Choice_?

None

_You_? (aka "where you given a choice?")

…_None_!

She was angry, Sitka could tell that by the pause. She could also tell that Nikkia had tried fighting and it had not worked. Likewise it would not work for Sitka. She would not try; she would go along with this for the time being.

She hopped down from the tree and landed silently in front of them her black cloak whipping around her. She stood and walked through the Uchiha and the other Akatsuki member forcing them to part for her. Without word or comment she headed off the way they had come from.

When they did not follow after a few meters she stopped and turned to look at them. The one seemed to be itching for a fight, his hand was twitching restlessly but the Uchiha and Nikkia just stood watching. She cocked her head at them and Nikkia stepped foreword and followed her. She caught up and they walked together, the other two soon followed.

_Where we goin?_ Sitka questioned with her hands so that the two behind them could not see (she hoped Itachi wasn't using his Sharingan).

_You will see. _She would sign nothing more.

Nikkia was her assigned partner. A good thing coming out of all of the mess she suddenly found herself in. Nikkia was a comrade, somebody she could trust to watch her back in a fight. That was more than she could say for anybody else in the organization that she had seen so far. It was not a big group only eight or nine individuals made up the whole, including the elusive leader. But all of them were the best ninja that could be found in the criminal world, which made them the most dangerous group in the current ninja world outside of the villages.

She sighed, what was she getting herself into? Whatever it was it wasn't good she knew that just from what Nikkia had told her.

It was shortly after she became a member of the Akatsuki that she turned fifteen.

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Presents, cake, candles they were all things that Sitka only vaguely recalled hearing about. She had seen them back when she still lived and worked for her former village. Through dirty windows on apartment complexes where children sat around the table laughing and singing when she was still a child herself-in looks at least-. It was something that had never been made to mean much for her; a birthday was merely a sign that you had started a new year of your life.

But she had never really had a birthday. Because of the manner in which the Riukage had found her she had no birth records of any kind. So her age changed when the year changed, that was how her Sensie had counted her years and that was how she did also. To her it meant nothing. One year she was going to forget how old she was because she told no one of her age, that was a secret thing, something of her past, a piece of her. She doubted if even Nikkia knew how old she was. Even as it was her age was only the best guess of a dead Riukage and his equally deceased friend.

She hardly noticed the passing of what she deemed her fifteenth birthday. She was consumed in what was important.

Apparently the Akutsuki agenda required vast amounts of money because as soon as Sitka was assigned a partner, given their signature cloak, hat, and ring, her and Nikkia were sent off. Wouldn't you know it, they were sent head hunting, the exact thing she had been doing before joining, only on a much larger scale.

Sitka's first mission as a part of the Akutsuki was to gain the body of a well-known and opposed diplomat originally from sand country but currently residing in grass. His head on the platter of one of the many Akutsuki connections would make a lot of people very happy and get the Akutsuki enough money to make it worthwhile.

Sure he had bodyguards; sure he was never left alone or unattended. They had been told very clearly by the mysterious leader that they were to make as little a scene as possible. However they were not to go out of their way to avoid the public eye. A middle ground was to be maintained by her as an Akutsuki member.

Sitka wasn't too keen on making any kind of a scene. However she recognized that she was overly paranoid, and that such paranoia could work against her rather than with her. She was making a very serious effort to break herself out of this complication without letting down her guard.

On "his" orders they took him out in his ground rooms after a very public debate. He walked into the room loud and boisterous with friends and women, drunk after his apparent victory. He immediately sobered when he saw one of his ninja guards limp on the floor, another lay against the wall in an awkward heap. In his drunken stupor he did not know caution. He looked up at the single black-cloaked figure in the room and his large mouth opened spewing forth-foul words. The dark figure didn't move a muscle only observed with a blank face. Without warning another figure stepped out from a doorway to the side and drove two senbon needles through the back of his neck one destroyed the root of his nervous system, the other his brain stem. The words stopped abruptly and he dropped like a ton of bricks. His overly large belly jiggling as he hit the ground.

The attacker knelt over the body then turned and the wide brimmed hat tipped up as eyes looked out from its shadows at the friends that had accompanied the diplomat. They stood gaping, open shock and horror displayed on their faces for all to see. The head turned back to observe the body, then the two black clad figures blurred and were gone taking the body with them. Screams followed their quick departure as those left behind realised what had happened.

On the outskirts of the town they appeared again, in the same positions in which they had departed.

Nikkia removed her hat and looked over to where Sitka still kneeled over the body. She was pulling out the senbon needles and flicking them into the brush, her hands twitching in disgust at the state of hygiene in which the man was. Big belly, wide open mouth with a pungent smell of beer issuing forth, stubble on his cheeks.

How were two petite girls like them going to move a corpse of this vast size? Nikkia sighed; it was going to be a long night.

Meanwhile Sitka pushed her water snake into the still warm body and took a rudimentary control of the only partially damaged nervous system. The convulsing limbs were tamed by the snake's control, which in turn was controlled by Sitka through chakra pulses. With the chakra stored in her snake she was able to haul the body up-right and get it to walk down the road beside them without too much trouble. The snake would ware out eventually but for the time being it would work.

Missions such as this one earned the two new Akutsuki members new pages in the bingo book. The only problem was that their names where not known, also the identity of the one was not even guessed at. Nobody knew their history or the village they came from. Both of them knew that the Rock village most likely had strong suspicions but they did not seem to be bandying these about for any of the other villages. For the time being they were mysteries.

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_Okay this chapter was a little longer than previous ones._

_Tell me what you think please._


	7. Chapter 7

_This is yet another short chapter. I am sorry but I can't really help it. I want to give myself time to write future chapters at the same time as continuing updates._

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Nikkia was hip deep in traitorous thoughts all the while they worked for the Akatsuki. She resented to the extreme her inability to make any choices regarding her continued involvement in Akatsuki activities. She was going to do something about it; only she couldn't do it alone.

Sitka on the other hand didn't seem to care about their working for the Akatsuki under no choice of her own. She was content to do the leaders every bidding without question or thought. Sitting back and analyzing the system entertained her.

Nikkia couldn't understand her. How could she just sit there after so many years of being controlled and allow it to happen again so soon after? It had been Sitka who had eventually snapped and cut down the Riukage without remorse. How could she get so angry with the Riukage yet remain passive toward the Akatsuki? It didn't make any sense. Then again Sitka rarely made sense, she was an enigma to Nikkia.

Even so Nikkia still needed Sitka's help no matter what her emotions toward the Akatsuki were. She needed to have a witness on the inside for her plan to work properly, if she didn't the Akatsuki might come looking for her again, and the second time they might not be so… 'Understanding'.

There was no such thing as testing the waters when it came to Sitka so Nikkia decided to come right out and say it.

They were on a cliff overlooking a small village that was snuggled into a bay leading to the wide ocean. They had stopped momentarily, to scan the layout of the village, not to enjoy the scenery though it was beautiful. There were several Leaf Jounin stationed in the village that were wanted by the local ruffians six feet under. The two Akatsuki members were there to fulfill that wish and collect the profits of such a deed.

Nikkia took a deep breath before venturing forth into unknown territory. She hadn't the foggiest clue where Sitka stood in regard to the Akatsuki so she had to tread carefully.

"You know I want to leave" she said her voice firm and confident. Sitka did not turn she only nodded her head and continued to study the village with a keen eye.

"Will you help?" Nikkia tried her best not to sound like she was begging, that would not benefit her when attempting to persuade this straight-faced kunoichi. Weakness could not be shown.

Sitka became very still at her question and Nikkia concentrated on her breathing so that Sitka would not notice her strong feelings on this subject. The younger girls head turned and though she could see almost nothing of her face Nikkia could see her eyes. They looked at her, searching her every movement for answers and reasons. Nikkia hoped that Sitka was in no way loyal to the Akatsuki or she might betray her. Though she doubted it, when it came down to it Sitka was loyal to nobody but herself, she could be trusted yes but she was not loyal.

Apparently satisfied she turned back to the village. A single nod of her head was enough to release Nikkia of all the tension she had bottled up inside.

Then Sitka turned and walked back to the path that lead down toward the sleepy little village. Nikkia wasn't sure how to discuss the subject with her; her rather abrupt manner seemed to have closed the subject. Oh well she would be patient, she could afford to wait now that she knew she had Sitka's help.

Down in the village Sitka-who was more or less leading- paused a moment before continuing down the small main street, which also seemed to serve as a market. Venders were out calling their wares and shoppers browsed in their midst.

When they passed the occasional onlooker would stop and look strangely at them. Their black cloaks made them very odd indeed, and their wide brimmed hats only added to their sense of weirdness. Nikkia knew that Sitka was struggling to ignore the looks.

They hadn't even made there way through the market when the Jounin confronted them. They were decked out in their vests and guards, crouched ready for battle. There were three of them, each holding a weapon of choice. It seems they had heard of the growing name of the Akatsuki even if the people all around them hadn't.

The two figures stopped. They remained still, waiting for the Jounin to make the first move.

"What is your business here?" asked a bird masked one. The two black figures were silent for a moment before Nikkia replied.

"You are our Business here" a moment's shock registered in their tense bodies before they attacked.

Technically the two black-cloaked figures were outnumbered. The thing was Sitka liked to use her snakes for such a number advantage as this. Giving her several extra arms, enough to block the attack of the two Jounin that hadn't been occupied by Nikkia.

The fight was short but deadly. And damage had been rather minimal; the only thing truly destroyed was a storefront Nikkia had kicked one of them into. When they finally gathered the corpses from the deserted street it was not yet lunchtime.

Nikkia shouldered one and Sitka the other two and they turned to head out of town. Neither of them bent over under their loads, however the feet of those Sitka carried dragged on the ground because of their superior height.

Nikkia despised this part of Akatsuki missions the most, bringing bodies to those who would pay up. Thankfully the gang that had the bounty resided in the surrounding mountains, they would not have to go far to be relieved of their burdens.

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Nikkia shook her head at such foolishness. The bandits were idiots. You did not attack two members of the Akatsuki and live, it just didn't happen. It seemed they had learned their lesson a little late, well at least most of them had.

Pinned up against one of the boulders of the pass was the badly bruised and beaten body of the single unlucky ninja they had left alive. They had yet to collect their money for the Jounin bodies and would not be leaving the area without it. Their single living ninja attacker was going to take them to his hideout, only he didn't know it yet.

Sitka's snakes currently had him sprawled in a vulnerable position flat against the rock. Blood ran down his face from a cut on the side of his head and his clothes were torn and red from the beating he had received. Nikkia judged him to be in his mid-twenty's.

Nikkia approached him and he looked up out of his single un-swollen eye. Her Akatsuki clothing intimidated him she could tell, she was very pleased with this and enjoyed watching him squirm. Sitka stood off to one side her eyes seeming to dissect him one painful peace at a time. He cast more than one terrified glance in her direction.

"You will take us to your hideout and we _will _get what we came for" there was no option; he would do as she said.

Though he was clearly terrified by their recent display of strength he shook his head. Nikkia despised wasting their time and energy on a pathetic little weakling like this but it had to be done. She turned away from him and gestured nonchalantly to Sitka, who stepped forward almost eagerly, bringing her hands up twitching out of her sleeves.

She brought her small fingers up under his chin where Nikkia knew she would feel his pulse racing. Though Nikkia could not sense it she knew Sitka was sending chakra messages to her snakes that held the man's hands and legs fast.

Suddenly his eyes rolled back into his head and his mouth opened in a silent scream. His body bucked and writhed despite its restraints. This lasted for a mere three seconds before Sitka once again stepped back drawing her hands away from his throat. The moment she did a scream ripped forth from his open mouth tearing through the air like a chakra enhanced weapon. Nikkia felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck; Sitka's torture technique always had that effect on her.

The man finally stopped screaming to collapse against his restraints breathing heavily. Once again Nikkia approached again this time jerking his limp head up by his hair to look her in the eye. His eyeballs were rolling in their sockets as if he had no control in their direction. Nikkia looked to Sitka, and raised an eyebrow. Sitka nodded to inform her that he was in fact still coherent and could hear her though he did not look it.

"You _will_ take us to your hideout and you _will_ do as your told" Nikkia stepped back and Sitka released him from the stone. He fell in a tangled heap but soon was able to pull himself to his knees.

When he had finally recovered enough to get to his feet he stumbled off farther into the pass. Both black-cloaked figures followed behind once again carrying the bodies of the Jounin. The scrambling ninja's shirt was soaked with sweat and he was shaking so hard he almost couldn't climb over the loose rocks and shale that were a part of the path. But the fact that the two of them were just behind him acted as a fire beneath his behind and never once did he really stop.

His sudden loss of resistance amused Nikkia but did not surprise her. Sitka's technique seemed to have that effect on anybody that Nikkia had ever seen it used on. Still she found it amusing that the man was terrified by a girl about ten years his junior. There was no wonder why the Akatsuki wanted Sitka as a part of their ranks, no the real mystery was why Sitka went along with it.

Nikkia sighed suddenly bored with the whole display. She just wanted to get the money and get out, but apparently Sitka had different plans.

It was midnight when they finally extracted themselves from the caverns of the bandit's hideout. In their possession were the complete funds of that particular hide away. It was defiantly nothing to sneeze at.

It seemed that Sitka was annoyed and when they had reached the big boss man she had found the source of her annoyance. Needless to say Nikkia doubted that there was anybody left alive inside dreary caves behind them. Sitka would have gone looking for them she was sure if she had thought there was.

It wasn't the first time in her life that Nikkia was glad that she was on the same side as the younger girl walking beside her. She hoped that she would never come across the time when they were opposite sides of a battle.

By the set of the stars Nikkia guessed that it was about midnight. They now had to walk to the closest Akatsuki base for the next meeting, what a bother.

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_Okay I gotta admit that I had lots of fun writing this chapter. I really enjoyed venturing into Nikkia's character. She has a lot more emotion than Sitka and therefore is easier to write. And bringing out another one of Sitka's techniques was defiantly interesting._

_Okay people if you read this and like it could you please review. Seriously here on fanfiction we can read stuff for free, we don't have to pay for it. So if you like this the least you can do is tell me:)._


	8. Chapter 8

_Another chapter is here!!!!!_

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It was when Nikkia finally had all the arrangements in place for her escape that she announced to Sitka "I am going to die today". Sitka looked at her for a moment before nodding in understanding. Sitka knew that this time she would be returning to the Akatsuki base alone.

They had been charged to take down another set of Knonoha ninja, this time ANBU. Only she happened to know something that the leader seemed to miss mentioning in their orders. She knew that one of the legendary Sanin Jeria was staying in the same village that the ANBU were reported in. How convenient!

They were going to draw the attention of the Sanin and stage the death of one of the great Akatsuki members. Nikkia had prepared a corpse in her likeness that could more or less prove this death.

She hoped it worked, desperately she hoped that everything would go smoothly. There were so many risks. They had to fool not only the Sanin and any of the ANBU (if they were still alive) but also the all-seeing eyes of their leader. This was far from what you would call an easy task. Thank goodness that she had Sitka's help; there was no way she could do this if Sitka had merely been an observer.

Nerves were not something that Nikkia usually had to deal with but for some reason she felt them now. They bounced around her stomach and tried to crawl up her throat into her voice. She pushed them down, impatient with herself for allowing such things to bother her.

Because of these feelings Nikkia felt that the slow measured walk that they had adopted as a traveling speed was much too slow. They approached the town from its side and were met by the ANBU in question before they could enter. Momentarily Nikkia thought how convenient it was that they had come to them, it made things so much easier.

One of the ANBU with a cat mask who appeared to be the leader of the four-man cell spoke up.

"You are not welcome here" he said firmly. Nikkia was slightly amused by this and responded, sure to let her smirk leak into her voice.

"Oh, and here I thought that you were the welcoming party" she replied snidely. They attacked as one unit hoping to use their advantage of numbers to their greatest extent.

Nikkia instinctively moved to put some distance between her and Sitka so that the squad would have to split. Given no choice they did just that.

Exchanges of taijutsu were short lived because both Nikkia and Sitka only had so many arms and the enemy had double. In a fight such as this it would be beneficial for both of them to use more broad long-range attacks.

Sitka fell back on defensive using her control of opposite elements to counter the wind and lightning techniques that came flying at her. She analyzed their hand signs and strategies and knew that they were holding back, waiting for her to come out in an attempt to end the fight.

Her snakes leaked out of the souls of her feet inconspicuously into the ground to wait for a signal from their master. Sitka retreated in the face of chakra manipulated, precise tornado. Moving her hands into the various seals she mouthed the words then but one hand towards her mouth. Flames spurted forth becoming wrapped in and a part of the deadly spiral of wind. Now her chakra was also a part of the spinning mass and she attempted to wrest it from the grip of the rabbit masked ANBU.

She continued backwards and using the momentum of the burning tornado to draw it away from its maker. She attempted to remain close to the spitting flames where it would be possible to avoid the lightning attacks of the other ANBU.

The rabbit ANBU stepped foreword trying to keep close to his tornado and regain complete control of it. Despite his swift movement Sitka's snakes caught hold of the bottom of his feet as he passed near the place they lay in wait. He barely had time to cry out before the chakra messages Sitka sent them seized control of his body. The tornado having lost the chakra for the wind in it started to dwindle and Sitka flung it toward the other ANBU coming up behind her before it could disappear.

It took him a mere moment to dodge but in that time Sitka was on him and he barely had time to deflect the kunai thrown at him. She pounded at him for a few moments with various weapons in an attempt to find a hole in his defence, and then suddenly retreated back to the level playing field they had started on. She knew under his cat mask he was confused, why would she give him time to regroup to strategize another attack.

Nikkia wasn't fairing as well as Sitka was. Her biggest forte was more close range. But her earth style attacks did allow her to remain distant if she so wished. One of the ANBU she fought had some wind techniques and managed to stay off the ground more often than not. The other was slightly less fortunate and had amassed several non-life threatening injuries.

She was going to pull her move soon though, that she thought would take out at least one of them if everything went smoothly. It was sure to bring the toad Sanin running at the noise her technique would make.

She was keeping them on their toes with loose shifty ground so they could not stand still long enough to launch a good attack. With a thrust to the ground beneath her feet with a fist she was able to project spikes of rock at the nin from under their own feet. It was in this manner that she was able to finally land a hit on the air nin.

Rocks grinding, and dust rising, chakra tornado's going off in the distance. This Nikkia believed was what finally brought the afore mentioned Sanin to the scene of the fight.

_Finally _thought Nikkia in annoyance as he loudly declared his presence. She shivered in disgust at his long greying hair and choice of dress, how could somebody like that gain a reputation like his? She didn't have a clue. She was disgusted that she had to 'die' at the hands of such a nin, it was a disgrace. And the trouble was that she would actually live to see that disgrace, what she did to escape the Akatsuki, **sigh**.

She braced herself suddenly as she realised that he had finished his speech and finally decided to attack. _What a nice change_ thought Nikkia dryly.

Taijutsu was his first attack in an attempt to read her style. She understood his level of skill when she was exchanging blows with him.

In the back of her mind she realised that Sitka had suddenly engaged both of the ANBU remaining. Once again the younger girl was quick and precise in her finish to a fight, Nikkia hadn't even realised she had finished with the other two so focused had she been on the Sanin and the other two ANBU. Now she brought her full attention to reading his movements and style just as he read hers. She had to find a convincing way to 'die' under one of his attacks.

The landscape around them changed drastically as the fight progressed. A once peaceful field was now riddled with random boulders, as well as pockmarked with craters. The wildlife had fled the area at the first sign of trouble.

She had known before of his reliance on summoning frogs but she now saw how he used and executed his moves with them to back him up and fight for them. She saw the opportunity and made the necessary hand signs with no time to spare.

The inside of a toad's stomach was deadly, Nikkia knew that. Literally eating away at the things that touched it and were encased in its deadly toxins.

He summoned it once and she managed to escape by a hairs breadth. It was a while later when he thought he had pinned her in the middle of the lake away from close range of rocks to manipulate that he moved to use it again. Nikkia recognised the hand seals and quickly made her own. Substitution jutsue and transportation jutsue simultaneously was not something anybody would consider especially easy but Nikkia managed it.

A second later she appeared in the forest not far from the field of the fight. For a second she was completely silent, shoving down whatever chakra she had left with a force that surprised her. It had worked out to perfectly, once the Toad Sage's technique had finished with the body she had substituted for her own it would not be recognizable. Nobody would ever know that the real Akatsuki member was walking free and still in a recognizable whole piece.

She shrugged off what remained of her Akatsuki coak and tucked it under her arm. She would have to wait for a time that she could dispose of it properly. It would not do for somebody to see her wearing it or for somebody to find it in the forest. She would burn it the first chance she got. But for the moment she had to focus on getting away from the scene of the crime as fast as possible.

Sitka saw the fight mostly from the corner of her eye. In-between the various exchanges of techniques between her and the other two ANBU. She had since whittled their numbers down to one. But now the Sanin appeared to be 'finished' with the fight with Nikkia meaning he had 'won'. There was no way she could fight the remaining ANBU along with the Sanin, even if it was just her and the Sanin she would be by far on the shorter end of the stick.

Suddenly she fell into full retreat. It confused the last ANBU for he had not yet noticed the Sanin's fight had come to a close. After a moment he pursued her at a cautious distance. His hesitance and injured body gave her enough time to grab his team's bodies and disappear in a small haze of smoke.

She appeared only a small distance away with a dilemma of how to carry the three bodies she now possessed. Shuffling around in her weapons pouch she pulled out an empty scroll opening it up she carefully sealed one of the bodies inside.

Sealing bodies was an inexact art and they almost never came out in the same condition they went in. This was the reason she only sealed one of the bodies. The other two she slung over her small shoulders with a small sigh. It really was unfortunate that Nikkia wasn't there to help her with her burden.

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_Okay the next chapter gets much more interesting because Itachi comes into the story. I know it took a while to bring him in but good stories aren't rushed!_

_Everybody who is reading this should tell me what they think. I can tell when you aren't reviewing…I can see everything *evil laughter*. No but seriously be nice and tell me what you think, is it good, bad or otherwise?_


	9. Chapter 9

_Well you know it's that time of the week and here is an update._

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Leader-sama wasn't happy about the 'death' of Nikkia, Sitka could tell by his voice though he did not raise it. Their next meeting found Sitka there standing on her respective finger without a partner to explain her situation. If was frustrating to say the least. Especially since only leader-sama and the Uchiha could tell what she said by her body language. Her image was just too fuzzy for her just to mouth the words that formed in her mind.

Frustration was especially high when the shark man prodded for what she was saying. The snake man stared at her with an intensity that annoyed her and she stared back. Most of the meeting found them in a blank faced staring contest on Sitka's part and a smirking look on the part of the snake.

She was not comfortable with his gaze on her, him nor the Uchiha. It could not be helped so she endured it for the meeting.

Several weeks passed. Sitka remained at a much hidden base during this time, training. Leader-sama had not yet contacted her for what he wished her to do next. Sitka guessed he was trying to find a suitable partner for her but had not yet done so. She wasn't in any hurry to go anywhere.

It didn't come as any surprise to her when they had again convened for a meeting and Leader-sama announced that she had a new partner. She was surprised however when he announced that it was the Uchiha. The Uchiha had a partner; well he had until Orochimaru had recently defected. Now it seemed that there were two of them without partners. What a good idea to put them together. Sitka personally wasn't crazy about the idea, but right at the moment life was a road and she was just along for the ride. So unless she wanted to do something about it she was going to have to deal.

The leader knowing that neither the Uchiha nor Sitka would be motivated to arrange a meeting arranged a meeting place for them. A halfway point.

She met the Uchiha face to face for the third time. He wasn't any different than when she had seen him before. For a second they stood across from each other in the underground base and just sized each other up. Really it wasn't that much different than the other times they had met only now they were expected to play nice on the same team. The Uchiha was going to find out that Sitka didn't trust anybody that she hadn't grown to know would watch her back. Right now there was a very small amount of people that she would trust. Two to be precise. She didn't think that she would ever trust the Uchiha.

Minutes passed and neither of them moved. Sitka could not, and would not say anything. During the last couple days after the meeting she had spent her time remembering everything she had ever learned about the sharingan and this particular user. She also attempted to drag up memories of her training oh so long ago. She wasn't entirely satisfied with what she came up with but she knew the basics, which was more than he would know about her so she was comforted.

Without words the Uchiha once again turned to the door he had just entered and moved to exit. A strategic move that Sitka didn't approve of. The display of his back to her was meant to loosen her tense stance that she hadn't attempted to hide. It was her way of telling him she didn't trust him in the least. He was trying to calm her down in a sense; relax her. She was going to let him know that it wasn't going to work, no matter what he did. There was going to have to be some serious sweat and blood shown on his part if he wanted to make this partnership a success. As for her, she would cover his back, she didn't care if he didn't trust her or not. She had no quarrel with him and right now her assignment was to cover him, so she would. But there was no way she would tell the Uchiha that, she would let him suffer.

Missions continued on as before only things were much more interesting and difficult now. Trust the Uchiha to make things more difficult as she attempted to watch her back and focus on missions simultaneously. Leader-sama continued to send them out to headhunt, but once in a while there would be a change. They were also keeping close tabs on all of the demon containers currently known in the ninja world. Some missions were simply to collect info from Akatsuki contacts about such containers. Also they were to strike fear into the hearts of such contacts so they knew what would happen to them if information slipped.

On more than one occasion a single ninja, or contact was used as an example so that the others would know their place. Several severely unlucky individuals experienced the excruciating pain of Sitka's torture technique. Sitka saw this as an opportunity to show the Uchiha what would happen to him if he attempted anything. His body language told her he was impressed but not intimidated. This bothered her but she didn't care to take action for such a thing as scaring the Uchiha into a state of submission. Besides she doubted she could, after what he had seen she doubted he would fear even imminent death. They were the same in this. If death were to come knocking she had prepared herself more times than she cared to remember. She assumed he had seen the same.

Despite her distrust of him she respected his level of skill. Never before had she seen anybody with such strength in genjutsu. This was understandable considering his status as Uchiha protégé.

On one occasion they had been given the assignment by leader-sama to wait at one of the hidden Akatsuki bases in sand country. They were to scope out the lay of the Village hidden in the Sand for raids to take place some time in the future.

Sitka considered this mission a waist of time. She guessed that Leader-sama merely wished to pull them off the radar for a short amount of times, for what reasons she was not entirely sure. Lacking knowledge bothered her; she did not appreciate the deliberate way in which Leader-sama kept her in the dark. Judging from the Uchiha's restless demeanour he felt the same.

It was because of these emotions that they found themselves facing off against each other in a place surrounded by a mix of sand dunes and rock faces. Sparing was what was natural for both of them to relieve themselves of the emotions that they were not supposed to possess.

For a moment they stood assessing the others stance. Neither moved save for their eyes, the Uchiha had not yet activated his sharingan but she knew he would the moment she moved. He was strangely reliant on it, something she disapproved of, no one technique should be relied upon to such an extent by its user. But maybe he would surprise her, she sure hoped so, it had been so long since something had quickened her blood. Nothing ever motivated her anymore; there was no sensei to please, no freedom to gain. She was abnormally strong for her age but that was not a goal she had ever strove for, she didn't now. She anticipated this fight with the Uchiha because she hoped he would give her a reason to continue working toward some sort of end. She really was far from emotionless but nothing brought her emotions forward anymore, nothing surprised her, scared her, frightened her, life was strangely…. boring! She didn't enjoy it; she no longer cared about it or anything.

The Uchiha didn't feel the same way about life. She wanted what he had, something to work toward. She admired what made him keep going, maybe one day she would know what it was…maybe.

She made the first move revealing her anticipation of the fight. Her image flickered and she appeared behind the Uchiha swiping with a kunai at his head but he had ducked. She aimed a kick at his head, he grabbed a hold of her foot with a practiced ease but despite this she once again flickered and was gone.

The exchange of taijutsu lasted for a long time. Nearly a half an hour past of close quarter, hand to hand combat. Each of them waited for the other to bring out their true weapons but neither was willing to be the first to do it.

It was Itachi that gave in first, activating his sharingan without flare. The taijutsu very suddenly and abruptly turned in his favour. He landed a few hits on her before she could pull away to a safer distance. She hardly noticed the new ach in her chest and leg as she assessed the situation crouched on a vertical sand stone rock face. The Uchiha remained on the ground as he analyzed her in turn. His body's stance was tensing showing that he expected her to play her cards now that he had drawn his. A slight smile turned up the corner of her lips beneath the fake visage of her snakes.

She flickered and they once again came together in a clash of kunai and flurry of blows. Itachi obviously had the upper hand but Sitka was managing. She loosened her body so it acted more on reflex then on commands sent consciously.

It was in a more severe attack on the Uchiha's part that she finally implemented a use for her snakes other than a false face. The full mass of both of them was pushed out through her pores, and using her chakra she hardened them into a full body shield that was hard but also able to flex with her movements. Now the Uchiha's hits would touch her but no longer bring any sort of pain to her, at least his current attacks. The Uchiha with his sharingan saw what she did. It was her way of telling him that she was ready to see what else he had. She was pushing him to increase his attacks and waited until they overpowered hers before stepping hers up also.

'_Interesting'_ the Uchiha thought absently as she charged again. '_Mind games'_ he commented to himself as he blocked kicks and punches. A slight tip of his lips showed his amusement, and anticipation. For just this moment he could fight without a gory and bloody end, he could be relaxed and natural. But he could not loose, the nature of his partner he did not know. If he showed weakness he might end up with a knife in his back.

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_Itachi is officially a part of the story now! I'd love some feed back of where people think this story is going or where they think it should go. I have a general idea but I would love to hear the opinions of my readers. Until next week. TTFN._


	10. Chapter 10

I know I haven't updated for a while and I am sorry. The standard excuse school, busy, no time, writer's block and so on and so forth. I think this chapter is boring but I hope you will read it anyway :).

Sitka was growing increasingly frustrated. The Uchiha had something she wanted but she couldn't seem to grasp it. She had found something she wanted desperately and now she was at a loss as to how to go about getting it. He had drive, a reason to live and exist, she didn't exactly know what his was but she wanted a reason also. The only things she could think of were goals, like Nikkia striving to get out of Akatsuki and the Riukage wanting power. She had never come across anything like the Uchiha had; his was not a goal, his actions denied it at every turn.

She couldn't see what it was so she asked him, after puzzling over it for hours, days, and weeks.

They were fairly deep in fire country, buried within the giant forests that covered the country. Because of their depth they didn't start a fire. They faced each other each with their backs to trees, when Sitka pulled back the disguise from her face so he could see her clearly. She knew that even in the thick darkness he would be able to see her lips move and divine her unspoken word's meanings.

_'I want to know'_ Sitka began, knowing she had his attention after removing her disguise (something she hadn't done in his presence before). _'What your reason is'._

He raised his eyebrows in question. Sitka's lips quirked into a smile sensing that she was getting close to the answers she so craved.

_'The reason you keep going'_ she said in reply. _'You and me are a lot alike in many things but there is one area in which we strongly differ'_ she continued. He still did not understand, that she could tell. She paused and let it stretch out like a blank page letting his thoughts take him where they would. Finally her lips moved again.

_'You have a reason to live, and I do not. Tell me what it is that keeps you going'._ His face grew hard at her words, for he seemed to perceive some sort of threat in them. She had to find a way to pacify him if she was going to get the information she so desperately craved. But she couldn't think of anything, if she did not know what it was. Instead she just let her emotions fade through her mask; confusion, earnestness, eagerness, and hope. She wanted to show the Uchiha that she meant no harm.

She was starting to loose hope in him answering. His silence stretched on for what seemed an eternity. The hard look in his eye did not change and he stared out into the trees like they held his life's answers, possibly his reason. She studied him, hoping to gain a hint at his thoughts but non-came.

"My Brother" he said at last. The confusion shinning in her eyes begged him to continue. He was silent for another long stretch before speaking again. "He is going to get revenge" and then in a barely discernable whisper "he is going to kill me". Confusion marred her face once again. He was living for his death, that was his reason? That didn't make sense, but she did not have the whole story, she wished whole-heartedly for him to continue but doubted he would. So she was surprised when more whispered words escaped his lips.

"He is the only one left…I killed the others" another of his loooong pauses before "He is going to right my wrongs and kill me for what I have done". His head was tilted forward so his bangs hid his face, she could no longer see or read his eyes. She let the silence settle again before venturing a question. She knew nothing of sensitivity and didn't know how to approach the emotions that would be applied to this situation. So she was straightforward as always.

_'Why did you do it'?_ She asked leaning forward in a sick sort of eagerness. His head shot up at her question and he gave her a piercing glare. She tilted her head to the side but did not withdraw the question.

"What is your interest in such matters?" he asked abruptly. She settled back for a moment and considered. He had given her some of what she wanted; equal exchange would demand that she give something in return.

_'I have nothing'_ she said her emotions and inquisitions taken from her face. He watched her carefully, looking for more than what she said. _'No village, no comrades, no sensei, no kage, no goals'_ pause _'no reason to keep going on this way'_. She looked hard into his eyes almost attempting to convince him through her eyes alone. _'I need to know what other people do in this situation, I am at a loss'_. The defensiveness was gone from his look but its intensity did not leave.

"Precious people" he said simply. Confusion once again came to her features. He would say no more; he simply stood and walked away from their discussion. She let him go, she needed to ponder what he had said to figure out its meanings.

Apparently one could live for more than just the fulfilment of goals; the Uchiha lived for a precious person. Interesting, very interesting indeed.

They were walking through foothills on their way to the mountains in River Country, the Uchiha held their target slung over his back like a sack of potatoes. The slashed cloud headband identified the missing nin for what he was. Their rendezvous point was in the mountains with yet more missing nin.

The Uchiha had given her a lot to think about, about caring about and protecting another person. It was a very interesting concept to say the least but she was slightly sceptical that such a thing was possible, for her in any event.

A ruckus was heard around the bend in the path. Neither of the black-cloaked figures moved to quicken their step, appearing at the scene of the commotion at a slow leisurely pace. Before they could see anything they knew exactly how many nin where there and what appeared to be the problem.

Looks like the missing cloud nin's buddies had become tired of waiting around. Six of the missing nin's had surrounded what looked like a genin team from the resident ninja village. There was no sign of their Sensei and their situation was looking rather desperate as yet another missing nin appeared out of the surrounding forest. A certainly terrified looking middle aged man stood petrified in the middle of the little triangle the three genin had formed around him. When the two Akatsuki members appeared around the corner their Sensei suddenly flickered into view in front of them glaring with hard eyes at the Akatsuki.

Because of the Sensei's hard look all those present turned to see the new arrivals, or what could be seen of them considering their black cloaks and hats pulled low. Those who knew who they were could be immediately differentiated from those that didn't mostly by the looks of horror on their faces.

The missing nin that recognized them slunk off at a record pace, their buddies that didn't know what was going on weren't going to stick around and find out what the problem was. This left the genin team standing there, the three children stood with openly surprised faces as did the civilian man with them. Their Sensei had taken a fighting stance and continued to watch the intruders with hard eyes.

Sitka flared her chakra, just to get a reaction out of the dumbstruck children. She felt the Uchiha's eyes flick toward her at the motion not liking the direction she was taking. Two of the children flinched from the chakra the other seemed to have mostly recovered and attempted to remain indifferent.

Sitka stepped forward again non-threatening in her actions, the Uchiha did also a second later, she noticed he was suddenly very wary of what she might do. But she didn't do anything she simply walked past the surprised little team and continued on. She could feel the team's eyes on her back until the two of them disappeared from sight.

Once again the Uchiha glanced at her, this time it was a calculating gaze, he never expected this from her. She smirked from under her collar, it was fun rocking the boat and shaking up what her partner thought he knew about her. She didn't welcome violence, why fight if such a thing was not ordered of her or she was not attacked first. With the reputation of the organization she was with usually the target attacked first saving her the instigation of a fight. The Uchiha would remember that now, she was not a senseless killer.

But even as she thought of this an idea came to her. It turned her smirk into a full-fledged smile. The newly conceived plan was defiantly worth a try she decided, it would make things more interesting…. and maybe she would even find her reason, just maybe.

K as always reviews are awesome. I have absolutely no idea how long until the next chapter is ready because as I said before it is crazy here. Hopefully it wont be as long as it was this time though.


	11. Chapter 11

Wow! It has been a long time since I have written a chapter for this story. This one isn't long but I figured something was better than nothing.

When one is a part of the Akatsuki it is far from a normal occupation, even by shinobi standards. You are paired with one partner and one partner only. You eat, sleep, drink, bath and all manner of S-ranked activities with this partner in very close proximity. There are no holidays for one never stops fighting for their life. You can either learn to trust this partner assigned to you or not. Life can be made much simpler if you can learn to rely on the other person to watch your back. If not….life can be made even more of a living hell (yes it is possible).

Sitka knew the Uchiha and her were far from trusting each other. In fact they were probably closer to the other end of the spectrum in killing each other. And Sitka knew if she wanted to change that that she was going to have to be the one to make the first move because the Uchiha defiantly wasn't going to do it. He was a strange sort of shinobi that never seemed to be concentrated on the; hear and now a very dangerous thing. But despite this distracted aura he was never caught off guard and instead had the surprise effect on his opponents. She wanted to know what he thought about when he did not seem to be in the present. She wanted to know his head.

_Precious people!_

Yes it was true that it had been people that had motivated her in the past. Various Kage's of her village had tried and failed to motivate her. They had been able to manipulate her to their bidding but never had they motivated her. Only her Sensei had evoked any sort of a positive emotion in her apart from maybe the others that had been in the ANBU sect with her. Her Sensei had made her want to succeed to please him; it was only to make him say in his gruff voice 'well done'. He had never said it often so achieving this was high praise, one that she and all the others worked hard to get. Those simple words made her heart jump and a real smile pull at her mouth. When she had been young she had hardly known what this meant and though she was told such feelings were bad things she held on to it. It lifted her up, made her feel good, like maybe someday she would be able to wash the blood from her hands and be clean.

One night they stopped for a rest on a small Island several miles off the coast of Lightning. There was no water supply present and the Island was therefore uninhabited. The Uchiha sat against a boulder with one knee up resting his arm, gazing out over the ocean with a familiar, distant look in his eyes. Sitka was sprawled not far away on her stomach with her elbows on the ground and her hands supporting her chin. She studied him without any attempt to hide her gaze. Finally he looked over at her with yet another familiar look, this one piercing. They had a stare off in this manner for several minutes.

She cocked her head to the side and continued to stare. With his blood red eyes the man cut an imposing glare but she didn't really care what those eyes could do at this point. When it came to trusting a person you had to step out on a limb at one point and take a risk to see if the person was worth trusting.

Sitka was a cautious person, even more so than the many others who shared her trade. Only a select handful of people had ever seen her face, most of those she had worked with, and as often happens in her line of work, most of them were currently dead or hanging on the most wanted list of one village or another.

She however had reached the conclusion that if she did not trust the Uchiha she would get nothing from him, and if she got nothing from him then what was the point in continuing this existence in the first place.

The Uchiha had been the one to retrieve the supplies. She had gone on ahead and scouted this island as a safe place to make camp. That means he had been alone with the supplies for his entire journey from town.

Finally she broke eye contact with him a got up to walk over to the food and water he had brought. She picked up her canteen, opened the lid and drank. This, she decided, would be were it would begin. She did not check for foreign substances in the water, the Uchiha would have checked that when he got it, unless it was him who added it. It was there that she found the risk in trust. The Uchiha would know her decision when he noticed no chakra flare as she raised the canteen to drink.

She had made the first step now she would wait and see if he would reciprocate the action. It might take a while but she had all the time in the world and nowhere important to be, she could afford to wait.

It was almost three weeks later before the Uchiha took the next step.

They had just taken cover in a convenient cave, a few miles inside the border of Rock Country. They had just finished a particularly taxing mission in which they had to eliminate a gang of rogue ninja encroaching in upon a larger crime Lords territory. They had been largely insignificant as far as opposition, but their numbers reminded Sitka of rats or cockroaches. Just when you thought you had killed them all, yet another scuttled out from under the debris and barred its teeth or pincers and you. They seemed to multiply in the stinking garbage and slums that surrounded them.

The Uchiha was not well to begin with; Sitka could see that, the mission had strained him to his already weakened limits. So when they were safe inside the cave he curled against the wall and fell asleep, as much as any missing nin sleeps anyway. This left Sitka to cast all the genjutsue over the entrance and set the traps. Sitka didn't mind, she knew it was his way of trusting her, trusting her to do a good job to keep them alive another day.

Itachi sensed her setting up the traps outside the entrance, taking her time as she strung hidden wires and perched senbon in unnoticed nooks and crannies. She left for a few moments before returning again to the cave, he assumed to scout around for the last time.

She walked back in with an armful of firewood, which she arranged near the opening, so the smoke would not clog up the cave. The smoke, he was sure, would be disguised by the various genjutsue covering the opening.

He knew what it was that she wanted of him. She wanted to be able to trust him, and him to trust her. She wanted them to be a team, in the true sense of the word. She had never told him as much but her actions spoke louder than she ever would, and she knew that. He would give in of course. He couldn't afford to be at odds with his partner, especially not if he wanted to complete his goals before his body managed to end him. Life was strenuous enough as a missing nin without having to watch his partner.

She was strange, her state of emotions were very confusing to him. She seemed inhuman in that she could slaughter nin without a moments hesitation or remorse, yet she only did so under orders. She could kill innocence without seeming to think about it twice, yet she did not enjoy the slaughter for she did not seek it out, killing only when it was deemed necessary. Even he, an elite of Konoha was known to have some sort of mercy or remorse when killing, his younger brother was an example at least to those who knew the situation and his reasons.

Deep down he was grateful. Grateful that she had initiated this, because he did not have the energy nor could he afford to have yet another thing on his mind. But he was also Grateful that she wanted this because she was a very dangerous enemy, he supposed he was lucky that he happened to be one of the few that had seen this side of a very dangerous shinobi.

Finally he slept.

Sitka stayed up for a while despite being drained. She stared deep into the fires depths, contemplating life's secrets, whims and reasons.

Before she too drifted off to sleep, she sent her fire snake out to mingle among the remnants of the fire outside the cave to keep watch and awaken her if something should be out of place. Her water snake she wrapped around her, then –content that they were safe- she fell into a deep sleep.

She always slept deeper than any normal shinobi, but she did it a less often, staying awake for days at a time then sleeping for long stretches as soon as she was able. She relied on her snakes to wake her should something require her attention.

*****************************************************************097u889 Please review and I will see what I can do about getting the next chapter finished ASAP.


	12. Chapter 12

They came to a mutual understanding after that. And as they became more familiar with the techniques of the other and came to understand their partner's capability they grew in a sort of professional trust. A trust that allowed them to relax, and take turns and keeping watch, to split the work and responsibility.

Most of the watches fell to Sitka, which she promptly slept through, leaving her snakes to keep watch. The Uchiha found himself able to relax to a marginal extent for the first time since he had left Konoha. He was grateful to her; she had offered him a slight reprieve from the harsh reality that he had been exposed to at such a young age.

She offered him the small kindnesses, the ones that had been denied him for so many years.

When it was her turn to get supplies she would sometimes bring back some hard candy, or dango knowing he liked the stuff. It was not as if he had not been offered sweets by a girl before, for it had happened plenty of times back in Konoha, by several of the female population that one day hoped to stand at his side. He of course had refused them all, there were to many implications of his actions if he had accepted. Of course the girls would have told their friends and assumptions would be made by the clan. It was a lot more complicated than just accepting some sweets.

However she brought them because she thought he would enjoy them. She did not need another reason other than the fact that he would appreciate it. Nobody would know for she would never, could never, tell anybody. He enjoyed it all the more, just because nothing changed with the giving; their partnership remained the same, if not strengthened by her effort.

He wondered at her behaviour, she to had been shortchanged in the whims of a hard life also. He probably would never know her beginnings, but the puzzle intrigued him, so one night he asked her.

They were eating some bird that Sitka had shot from the branches of a tree and had then roasted over a fire. They sat across the fire from each other, each delicately eating the steamy meat using sendon as utensils. He swallowed, and then asked in a quiet voice, barely heard above the crackle of the fire.

"How did you become a missing nin?" He looked at her with questioning red eyes. He had been blunt just like she was, knowing she would prefer such an approach. She paused a moment before responding.

_'I killed the Riukage' _She mouthed. He was quite for a moment, thinking.

"Why?" He asked. She stiffened minutely, he thought she would not answer but to his surprise she did.

_'I would no longer be controlled, it was either kill, or be killed' _She said in explanation. Itachi decided he had pushed far enough and did not ask another question. But she asked one of him.

_'And you? Why are you a missing nin?' _he gave her a strange look.

"You know how I became a missing nin" he said evasively.

_'That's not what I asked'_ he gave her a wary look.

"That's classified" he said quickly turning to look into the fire with his features carefully schooled into nothing resembling emotion.

Classified meant a village was involved and the Uchiha was keeping a lid on such information for more than his own reasons. She reflected back to what he had said about his little brother, and knew the two were connected. There was a reason he did not want the world to know about the villages involvement in his predicament. Sitka dropped it; she knew that he would say no more. Besides he had already told her invaluable information that showed a certain level of trust.

When he imparted strange details like this to her a strange feeling came over her. She wasn't yet sure what this feeling was but in it she thought she saw a hint of joy at his acceptance of her.

A month or so later and the Akutsuki once again stood on the fingers of the rock statue, whether in person or in illusion only. As they were coming to the end of their business Leader-Sama was giving orders to the various teams when he turned to Sitka and Itachi.

"You two are going to go to Konoha and take the nine-tail jinchuuriki, if it cannot be done retreat and evaluate before reporting back at our next meeting".

From where they stood, far away in the wilderness of Sauna she felt Itachi's body stiffen, it however was not visible to any of the Akatsuki. She refrained from looking strangely at him until the meeting had been called to a close, then she turned her gaze to him in question of his behaviour. He ignored her as he turned and started walking away.

Sitka did not understand his strange stiffness of behaviour at the mention of his home, why did this order from Leader-sama insight this kind of reaction in him? Something from this village must be pretty special for a mission there to evoke an emotional response from the usually unflappable man.

To any 'normal' human being Itachi's display would not have been considered abnormal, however such a person would not have noticed the stiffening of his body and the signs that the Uchiha felt anything different to this situation than others. But Sitka was not accustomed to reading the emotions behind actions and the rhyme and reason of the human heart, maybe because hers had spent most of her life crushed under the impression that it was not supposed to be human, emotions were such strange things for her and now that she was free to do as she pleased they could be found in the strangest of places, like her concern for the Uchiha and his feelings. Although she didn't know it that is exactly what she felt at this time, and with it came the faint desire to protect him from what she instinctively knew were not pleasant feelings. The desire to spare him this turmoil confused her and as such she did not act on it, she only followed slowly behind the man that had so confuddled her.

They found themselves in Konoha almost a week and a half after that meeting, it would have been sooner but the Uchiha seemed to have no motivation to hurry, further confirming the presence of his warring emotions. Sitka made no move to make him go any faster, this was his battle she felt that she mustn't interfere although she still possessed this strange desire to protect him from himself.

Entering the renowned city of power Konoha was much easier than Sitka had ever expected it to be, Itachi's sharingan easily got them past the guards. She thought for a moment that that was all the resistance that there was going to be before they ran in to a couple of Konoha shinobi that recognised them. They engaged them in battle, Itachi taking a genjutsue specialist knowing that nobody, even in his weakened state could beat him in the field in which he was a master.

Sitka engaged the other, a man with wind chakra and knuckle blades. Sitka had moved him out to the water and was about to finish him off when reinforcements arrived. This one was a person she had a heard about, not a loose name like the other two, this was Hatake Kakashi. He possessed the Sharingan! A thing Sitka thought to be quite interesting as he was not an Uchiha.

Sitka engaged him with basic water techniques attempting to devine what his skill level was. He matched her water dragon, unsurprisingly. But he could not replicate her next technique for it required the use of her water snake, something such as this could not be copied without much time, dedication, and study. However he could see the chakra and turned out to be exceptionally good at dodging. This cat and mouse game continued for some time, before Itachi's opponent fled to the protection of the copy nin as well forcing the Uchiha to join her fight.

Sitka was slightly annoyed with him then, why didn't he finish the genjutsue specialist off? She was frustrated that he let his emotions mess with this mission. But the mere fact that he had let it interfere just showed the magnitude of this village's importance to him, it was something that she just couldn't fathom. What had his village done for him, why was it so precious, it didn't make any sense. He was an outcast, they had shunned and hunted him, so what had stayed his hand?

They left not long after the copy-nin was left much weakened and gasping in the after effects of Itachi's sharingan.

They found the apartment complex in which the Kyuubi lived, but shortly after they spotted the demon container they were confronted by a miniature Uchiha. The boy was burning with emotions that were sprawled all over his face, they seemed to be consuming him from the inside out.

Sitka grabbed the blond haired child and shoved him against a wall to keep him from escaping while Itachi dealt with his younger brother. Sitka looked on with interest but confusion, she knew why Itachi was goading the child he had told her his reasons. But she couldn't understand why the child went along with it. The mere fact that the child was still alive was enough to prove that Itachi loved the boy more than logic would say he should. But more and more Sitka was seeing that emotions often went against logic refusing to see reason and went its own way. She surmised that this was the reason that shinobi were trained to have none, because logic must rule in battle situations. However that only worked if one was not making decisions, an emotionless, heartless killer acting under his own direction is a killer with no discretion, one that must be destroyed or he will destroy everything around him. But Sitka had not yet seen a completely emotionless killer. She had seen crazy shinobi that revelled in the blood and adrenaline of battle but never one that felt absolutely nothing!

The Toad sage soon turned up and under Itachi's direction they turned tail and ran, it went against Sitka's very nature to retreat but she felt that Itachi was not in his right mind and she could not complete this mission without his knowledge of Konoha. So she ran with him, cutting down pursuing minions of the strange old man.

When they were once again under the bows of the giant trees she wanted to confront him, ask him why. But she didn't, she refrained, held back once again by the existence of something foreign. Something that wasn't tangible yet made its appearance in the beating of her heart and strange wayward thoughts. She kept her inquires to herself, reflecting upon this strange thing surging up in her chest, its growing intensity was beginning to worry her. She had not dealt with this since she was a young child she distantly recognised this thing as the feeling of affection. Its presence confused her greatly.

They glided through the trees without misshape, one troubled Uchiha and an emotionally scrambled Kunoichi.

************************************************************************ _So here is another chapter, I really appreciate the reviews I got for the last one but I definitely thought that there weren't enough, hence the obvious lack of haste in the making of this chapter. So if you want a faster update please contribute some love, or hate, or your opinion of where the story line should go. That would be awesome __._


	13. Chapter 13

"_Let me help you_" Sitka insisted as the Uchiha coughed and sagged against the wall of the cliff overhang where they had stopped to rest for the night.

Itachi was silent for a long time but Sitka did not turn away, instead she stepped closer as if to make good on her threat to help, with or without his consent. Finally he spoke as if to ward off her advance.

"why would you **cough** want to help me?" he panted his breath short.

"_Because I can_" she stated simply.

"That's not an answer" he accused "do you kill just because you can?"

_"I am with the Akatsuki because I can kill, I can and I will…Maybe I am your partner because I can and I will help you."_

In his weakened state he couldn't find the energy to fight her logic, so silently he gave in and let her help. Sliding down the rough surface of the cliff face he closed his eyes in resignation, and leaned his head back against the stone. She approached him then, cautiously as if any quick or threatening movement would make him change his mind. She knelt down next to him and pulled aside his cloak and carefully placing her fingertips on his chest, and then she too closed her eyes.

Through her fingers she flooded his body inserting her water snake into his system. She knew it would be painful but she also knew that whatever illness ailed him was much worse than the pain she inflicted upon him now.

She sent chakra probes down to ascertain the damage. She found the source of his pain in the deteriorating walls of his lungs and oesophagus.

Despite not being a medic nin her knowledge of the human body was considerable enough to be useful. This knowledge she used as she manoeuvred her snake to strengthen the weakened and bleeding organs, assuaging the aggravated tissue. She also dampened his nerve endings creating a lull from the ever-present pain.

She kneeled there a long time, eyes closed, concentrating on moving and arranging her snake so that she would not injure him further. Itachi too remained stiff and still, eyes closed and brow furrowed as he concentrated on not rejecting the foreign chakra that had invaded his body.

Finally she sat back on her heals, knees sore and hands sweaty from her work. Itachi's eyes opened in a sort of squint as the pressure of chakra penetrating his skin dissipated. She shot him a rare half-smile, her eyes were tired, the only thing about her that revealed the effort and concentration that her endeavour had taken.

She cocked her head at him in silent question. He nodded. Yes, the snake helped.

There were downsides to this too, the sudden gain of so much water in his body made his body feel slightly cumbersome, he was stiff and slow to sit up as he tried to adjust to it. This was only a temporary fix, not a solution, and both of them knew it. Sitka wondered what he was going to do. However she didn't ask, she had already invaded enough of his privacy, asking questions at this time would not be appropriate.

That night he slept peacefully for the first time in many months, Sitka could tell by his deeper breathing. The constant rasp of liquid in lungs was gone for the time being. However it would return as soon as Sitka removed the water snake. His body had merely been given a break from struggling to hold together, given a chance to mend what it could while it rested.

Sitka for the first time since she had left her village felt helpless, and Itachi seemed vulnerable as he slept. But the moment passed and Sitka assured herself that the Uchiha knew what he was doing. However this didn't stop a slow feeling that was largely unfamiliar to her from creeping in and settling in an uncomfortable knot in her stomach.

She fell asleep wondering why she even cared, and how it had come to happen.

Several weeks later they were assigned an interesting mission by Leader-sama. They were to assassinate the fiancé of a powerful young Lord in the land of Lightning. It was an arranged marriage, one that would bring about an alliance that many were not happy about, thus a price had been put on her head.

They traveled to lightning country at their usual leisurely pace. It was when they were several miles passed the border that Sitka finally decided to voice her questions about the situation. Questions she had always had but had never bothered to discover the answers to.

"_What is so important about marriage_?" she asked the silent Uchiha walking beside her. As was customary he waited a long time to answer her.

"It unites two people, making them one" he said slowly. "But these people have tried to unit to people groups that do not wish to be united also" he was silent again for a moment before saying. "A marriage agreement should be made only with the whole hearted consensus of both parties involved. Humans have ripped apart the importance of this fact in their hast to obtain power, or their willingness to sacrifice for a temporary peace making something that was once sacred and special into a hated a resentful thing"

Sitka nodded her understanding. Itachi did not voice his opinions often so she pondered carefully this as they walked on. He had been from a prominent clan, she wondered if he had ever been betrothed against his will.

They found the target whom they made quick work of even with her shinobi bodyguards hired from the local shinobi village. There were four of them to begin with; only two were left alive when they were through, although barely.

They brought the body to the benefactors in record time to hand in for the cash promised.

They were on their way out of lightning country again when Sitka asked another question.

"_So if both clans had wanted the marriage it would have been a good thing?_"

He shook his head "No".

"_Then what is a good marriage, the way it is supposed to be?_" she asked still mystified by his reasoning.

"What I meant by both parties was the two people getting married, it is easier when the other people in the situation also agree to it however it is not necessary for the marriage to be a proper one".

"_What is necessary then?_" she questioned.

"Love." He said simply. Then almost as an afterthought "among other things".

"_Love?_" she questioned. But he was silent.

Several weeks later they were in the land of fire running another menial task for leader-sama. The nature of their errand was much the same as the last one only it was an already married Lord in another country. His wife was stepping on some very prominent toes and those had placed a target on her own back.

"_What is love?_" she asked bringing up their old conversation hoping she could get answers out of him. He turned his head and gave her the strangest look, one she had never seen before.

"Many people over many centuries have tried to describe love" he said after his customary pause.

"_I don't want to know what those people thought, I want to know what you think_." She told him bluntly.

"Why does it matter what I think. It does not change the truth." He said his tone sad.

She smirked "_I like to think that they are one in the same_" she said plainly.

He looked up sharply at that. It was a long time before he answered her.

"Love is not a feeling" he began slowly carefully contemplating his answer "Love is wanting to protect the people you love, it trusts them, hopes and believes in them. It doesn't stop, it is not here today and gone tomorrow…. many people mistake feelings and thrill of the moment excitement for love and rush into decisions they soon regret. Feelings are fickle love is forever, but it can also be learned if a person is willing" He paused for a long time "Love is sacrifice" he said softly.

The rest of their mission was completed in silence.

_-===================******************************+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++******************************** Please let me know if Itachi is too out of character, and what you think of this progression. Thanks_


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